Living Nightmares
by SnowyRefuge
Summary: "But I won. Sawsbuck beat N's Zoroark." Mrs. White stroked her daughter's cheek and took in the young girl's expressionless, tear-stained face; she had obviously been crying in her sleep. "No honey, you lost." It was a few moments before Touko replied. "You're lying." Small hints of Ferriswheelshipping.


**My second story on this account. I hope you like it (or that I get more feedback).**

**Edit: On a side note, I would like to thank alicekinsno1 for pointing out some mistakes that I made in this chapter, Hopefully, I've fixed them all, but if anyone spots any, please don't be afraid to let me know.**

**Living Nightmares**

**By: Snowy Refuge**

**Disclaimer: Niether Pokémon nor the Pokémon characters belong to me.**

**Day 1**

Touko's hands shook furiously, watching as her one and final Pokémon trembled on its legs, knees giving way to violent quivers that pained the girl to look at. Sawsbuck had fought so hard for her, given her all that he'd had, but in the end, he is on his last legs, looking as if he would be unable to take a hit from so much as a tiny Patrat. Touko almost wanted to reach out and call her Pokémon back to avoid him from enduring any more pain, but she knew that in the process that she would lose this battle. And that, for the first time in her entire life, was something that she could not afford.

"Sawsbuck," her voice was strained, and cracked at the last syllable of her Pokémon's name. "I'm so sorry, but you can't give up now!"

Sawsbuck looked back at her, and nodded wearily, although his wobbling legs said otherwise. Still, he lowered his head to point his snow-covered antlers at the opposing Pokémon threateningly.

Across from the field, N frowned, a sadness dripping in his eyes at the sight of such determination from the hurt Pokémon. He never did enjoy these battles at all. "Touko…" He stepped forward, pleading, but the teenage girl that he had come to know over the past few months shook with anger at his voice. "Sawsbuck can barely even stand up, so much as battle. You can't win against me and my friends!" He spoke the words that she was already thinking, as if pulling them right from her mind. It almost hurt to hear him say such things.

In front of him, Zoroark roared, as if to agree with its lifelong friend. Sawsbuck cried out at it, as well, obviously not pleased with what it had said.

Touko's trembling hands formed a tight fist. "Sawsbuck is just fine!"

She _needed_ to win this battle, for her family, her friends, for her partners.

"He told me he'd keep battling!"

_Everyone_, every trainer, every single person on Unova soil, was depending on _her _to ensure that they could live peacefully with their Pokémon.

"I know we can win this!"

She _had_ to.

Despite N's warnings, the girl took in a deep, shaking breath and closed her eyes in an attempt to calm herself. Her Pokémon patiently looked back at her, waiting for a command.

The older teen attempted to break through to her once again, but fell short. "Touko-"

"Sawsbuck, use Slam!"

At the sound of his partner's shout, the deer-like Pokémon charged forwards, propelling his legs at a quicker speed than Touko had ever seen him run before. Zoroark, not having the time to avoid such a swift and powerful attack, was hit head-on, a rack of antlers being driven into its stomach. He lurched forward in pain, coiling himself against his opponent's antler as Sawsbuck kept running. N kept calling out to him in worried, panicked cries, but his friend could no longer hold in the pain as the season Pokémon stopped his charge just as quickly as he had started it. It was momentum that kept the large black and red creature off its feet, heading straight for the wall behind it.

There was a cry of pain, and then a cloud of dust engulfed the area that Zoroark had landed, making it rather clear who the victor was when the smoke dispersed.

At first, it had been a little too much for Touko's mind to comprehend this victory. It had seemed so sudden, this power and strength that Sawsbuck possessed and that weakened state of N's Zoroark. It seemed convenient, a little too quick for her. She watched as N ran to his Zoroark, took him into his arms, and held him close, whispering words to forgiveness to him for his loss.

It was so quick. So very, _very_ quick...

It took a nudge in the side to snap her out of her trance. Touko's head turned to the right almost stiffly, seeing Sawsbuck eagerly prodding her shoulder with an antler.

"Sawsbuck… I…" Her voice halted for a moment, and she was forced to clear her throat in order to continue . "I... just-" Her attempt to remain calm only seemed to become an even more difficult task, and so she decided to stop her hopeless efforts to speak normally and simply chose to fling her arms around her partner's neck instead, letting the scent of her good friend overwhelm her senses. A familiar smell, one of sweet peas and garden rain. The tears welled in her eyes and fell onto his fur, leaving wet patches on it. "You did it!" She cried. "_We_ did it, Sawsbuck! We saved everyone!" Her weeping grew louder, heavier than before. "We- we can-"

Sobs caught in her throat. She felt as if she was about to choke on all the tears that were pouring out of her eyes. Why was she crying so much? In a situation like this, you're supposed to be joyful, relieved. And even in the overwhelmingly emotional cases where people cried, they were at least _happy_.

So why couldn't she even smile? Why did it feel as if the world was suddenly crashing down upon her like an angry god, ready to strike at her any moment?

Her clutch onto the Pokémon's soft fur grew tighter, and she clung onto it as her knees became weak.

Suddenly, it felt as if the world was swarming around her, blurring into different shapes, bringing new scents and sounds to her. The smell of sweet peas was slowly fading away from her senses, and she only clutched her Pokémon tighter, calling out for Sawsbuck as she began to feel his fur slip through her fingers.

Her eyes snapped open, and saw a void of dark colors swirling around her. All she could see, feel, was a vast space of nothingness that filled her senses, suffocated her. Her hands, which were outstretched, held nothing, touched nothing. Her Pokémon was long gone, carried away with the deep void of colors. She quickly made use of her hands, moving them to her hip, to make sure that her other Pokémon were safely on her person, but when she got there, she felt nothing, only her belt loop. The pokéballs were gone.

No.

No!

No! No! No! No! No! No! No! No! No! No! No! No! No! No! No! No! No! No! No! No! No! No! No! No! No! No! No! No! No! No! No! No! No! No! No! No! No! No! No! No! No! No! No! No! No! No! No! No! No! No! No! _No! No! No! No! No! No! No! No! No! No! No! No! No! No! No! No! No! No! No! No! No! No! No! No! No! No! No! No! No! No! No! No! No! No! No! No! No! No! No! No! No! No! No! No! No! No! No! No! No! No! No! No! No! No! No! No! No! No! No! No! No! No! No! No! No! No! No! No! No! No! No! No! No! No! No! No! No! No! No! No! No! No! No! No! No!** No! No! No! No! No! No! No! No! No! No! No! No! No! No! No! No! No! No! No! No! No! No! No! No! No! No! No! No! No! No! No! No! No! No! No! No! No! No! No! No! No! No! No! No! No! No! No! No! No! No! No! No! No! No! No! No! No! No! No! No! No! No! No! No! No! No! No! No! No! No! No! No! No! No! No! No! No! No! No! No!**_

Why was this happening? She won! She could keep her Pokémon! They should be safely in her possession, waiting to be taken to the Pokémon center so that they could be healed and taken out to celebrate their companionship! She was going to take them back home, to her mother and friends, so that they could all sit around the table, have a few laughs, and share their adventures, all their hardships and how they got through them. She was even thinking about going back to the Unova League and trying to beat the Elite Four and Alder again, this time on better, more convinient circumstances, or going to travel in the other regions and see the world, just as she had always wanted to.

But how was she going to do all of that with her Pokémon gone?

Her arms reached out into the darkly colored nothingness, desperately trying to grab onto something, anything, that may help her find her precious friends, but her hands met with air. Terrified at the revelation that there was literally _nothing_ around her, Touko kicked out her legs, but felt no floor beneath her feet.

A terrified shriek left her mouth, and she thrashed out with all of her limbs in an urgent need to feel something other than this great, overwhelming sense of fear that had suddenly enveloped her entire being. It seemed as if the void had reacted to her sudden outburst, and it was wrapping itself around her, smothering her with dark, damp blackness that rapidly came flailing at her with no pity.

Shaking hands covered her ears as a horrid ringing filled her mind, pounding throughout her head mercilessly.

She closed her eyes as the void wrapped itself tighter around her, filling everything, her eyes, mind, body, with this terrible blackness, as thick and disgusting as tar. It was suffocating her, killing her.

Touko let out the loudest scream that she had ever made in her entire life.

And then it was gone. All of it.

Blue eyes snapped open, and were met with the sight of a window, a faint light signaling that dawn was quickly approaching shining in her eyes. Covering her quivering body was a thick red blanket that she found familiar. Her bed. Her room. _How did she get there?_

Her mouth, held open in a silent scream, felt dry and sore, and a cord in her throat twitched uneasily.

The thought of breathing seemed almost impossible, but she managed, taking in large gulps that she nearly choked on from taking in too quickly.

Touko's eyes, wide and eerily still, moved towards the stand next to the bed she was resting on, just as the sound of footsteps from outside the door registered in her ears.

A picture of herself sat at the back of the stand, staring at her. She was smiling into the camera with her arms wrapped around the shoulders of Bianca, her short blonde hair in its usual mess, and Touya, his eyes gleaming with their characteristically mischievous shine. To the side stood Cheren with his arms crossed, but a small smile playing at his lips.

Touko, breathlessly, looked at the other objects strewn about on the table. An unopened letter and an alarm clock with a Pidove sitting on the top that she knew went off every hour. It was seven.

She blinked, and then noticed the mechanical bird's loud squaking.

She stared at the tiny Pokémon sitting atop the clock, barely noticing as the door swung open and her mother tumbled into the room.

"Touko! Sweetie, why were you screaming?"

Her eyes and ears never moved from the Pidove. The longer she stared, the harder the look in her eyes became.

She was finally forced to stop watching the alarm clock as her mother wrapped her arms around her. Something wet dropped onto the top of her head.

"Oh, honey, I'm so sorry."

Touko blinked at her mother's soft voice and stared at her white shirt.

"Where are they?"

She pulled away. "Who?"

"My Pokémon," Touko clarified, staring up at her mother with hopeless denial in her eyes.

She hesitated, but finally answered the question after what felt like ages. "Honey, they're gone. They were released."

The words sent a chill down the teenager's spine. She stiffened, and clenched her teeth. "But I won. Sawsbuck beat N's Zoroark."

Mrs. White stroked her daughter's cheek and took in the younger girl's expressionless, tear-stained face; she had obviously been crying in her sleep. "No, honey," she had a hard time controlling her voice, so she shook her head in order to express her helplessness. "Sawsbuck fainted right as he was trying to use Slam. I'm sorry to tell you this, but you lost."

It was a few moments before Touko replied.

"You're lying."

Her mother's eyes softened, and she shook her head gently. "I'm sorry, Touko," her voice was in a mere whisper, so quiet that the wailing of the alarm clock almost drowned it out. "But Cheren saw it all; he told me himself. You did lose. And your Po-"

"You're _lying_." The teenager wriggled herself from her mother's grasp and pushed her away, with an exasperated expression that clearly showed her denial. "You're a liar. And so is Cheren." Mrs. White finally noticed that that she had begun to weep, small streams of warm water rushing down her cheeks. There were so many tears; it looked as if she would drown in them.

"Liars." She continued to quietly mumble this, almost as if she were talking to herself, but her mother didn't seem to mind the insults one bit at all as she gathered Touko into her arms and held her as if she were still a child. The young trainer continued to cry softly into her arms while Mrs. White shushed her gently, holding the back of her daughter's head and feeling tears roll onto the back of her shirt until her murmurs slowly died into a fit of hiccups.

She did not tell her that they would find a way to get her Pokémon back. She did not tell her that everything would go back to normal. And she most certainly didn't tell her that everything would be alright.

Because _that_ was an outright lie, and they had already established long ago that there would only be the truth so long as they were living under the same roof.


End file.
